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Ship · World War II · 1943–1946

USS PC-1176

A 173-foot submarine chaser that served as primary control vessel for Tare Green Beach, Utah Beach, on D-Day.

History

USS PC-1176 was a PC-461-class submarine chaser, a 173-foot steel patrol craft built in large numbers for anti-submarine escort work in World War II. Commissioned at New Orleans in November 1943, she crossed to England and on 6 June 1944 served as primary control vessel for Tare Green Beach in the Utah Beach assault area, marking the approach lane and dispatching the first landing waves. She stayed off the beach as a traffic-control ship through mid-June, then operated out of Cherbourg and Le Havre, did occupation patrol duty on the Weser River in 1945, and was decommissioned in May 1946 into the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at Green Cove Springs, Florida. She was later named Minden.

Source: DANFS, BGSU vessel history and NARA action report.

Timeline

  1. 20 November 1943
    Commissioned at New Orleans
    DANFS / BGSU
  2. 5 June 1944
    1200: left moorings at Dartmouth, Devon; rendezvous with convoy U-1A; assigned primary control vessel, Tare Green Beach, Utah Area
    NARA Action Report PC-1176 Ser. 95-44 (12 Jul 1944), naId 139733135
  3. 6 June 1944
    0205: arrived transport area. 0300: on station, dropped dan buoy marking Tare Green approach lane. 0430: got underway leading 4 tank-carrying LCTs. ~0542: PC-1261 sunk by enemy gunfire; ~0547: an LCT astern sunk. 0550: PC-1176 fired 50 rounds 3"/50 at shore. Led DD tanks to 3,000-yard line (vs planned 5,000). Dispatched first five waves for Tare Green and Uncle Red.
    NARA Action Report PC-1176 Ser. 95-44
  4. 6 June 1944
    From last wave on 6 June through 17 June: anchored off center of Tare Green Beach as traffic-control vessel in the build-up phase; officers towed DBUs, piloted coasters, messenger service
    NARA Action Report PC-1176 Ser. 95-44
  5. 25 June 1944
    Departed the invasion area after extended Normandy control duties (DANFS)
    DANFS
  6. 12 July 1944
    Commanding officer submitted Action Report, Primary Control Vessel, Tare Green Beach (Ser. 95-44)
    NARA naId 139733135
  7. August 1944
    CTG 125.4 endorsement: 'The primary control vessel of the green beach did an excellent job' (Warburton)
    NARA Action Report endorsements
  8. August 1944
    Operated out of Cherbourg, France
    BGSU vessel history
  9. March 1945
    Le Havre area operations (same BGSU span 1944–45)
    BGSU vessel history
  10. July 1945
    Occupation patrol duty from mouth of Weser River to Bremen
    BGSU vessel history
  11. 23 May 1946
    Decommissioned; Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Green Cove Springs, FL
    BGSU

Sources

Did a relative serve aboard USS PC-1176? A report can show the dates and pages that place them there. Records that place a person aboard a ship are muster rolls, morning reports, unit rosters or discharge papers; a ship history alone doesn't prove someone took part in an event.